Page 14 - Staff Tastings

To strongly reiterate, “2013 for many wineries in Napa and Sonoma has produced the finest wines I have tasted in 37 years…2013 a classic of power, intensity and equilibrium…” - Robert Parker

With everyone from wine critics to winemakers to wine collectors raving about this stellar vintage, I am always anxious to open a bottle, and the 2013 Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay seemed particularly appealing one night this week when my husband was taking some salmon burgers off the grill.

Newton sources their Chardonnay from the Carneros region of Napa, on hills that roll toward the San Pablo Bay. This location is especially good for the vineyards – the fog rolls in each evening and lingers through morning, and the afternoon brings gentle breezes. Because the season is quite long, the fruit is harvested beautifully ripe. 2013

Since the year 1860, the Boiron Family has impressively crafted wine at the property, and for the past six generations, the Domaine has been handed down from father to son, holding up to the tradition of the estate.

The 2012 Les Bosquet des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape Chante le Merle Vielles Vignes is an extremely elegant wine, which is drinking beautifully now, and should have another two decades of total longevity.  

Pronounced - (sha-toh-nuhf-doo-PAHP), and as the name suggests, this wine will surely POP! This spicy French red is packed with ripe flavors of black fruits, coffee, and pepper which are all native to the Southern Rhone Valley’s Wine Region. 

2010 (99-RPWA), 2011 (97-RPWA), and 2012 just so happen to all have been epic back to back vintages, highly sought after and appraised. The 2012 vintage produced an extremely rich, forward,

1. We have found that the overall quality of the 2015 vintage is somewhere between very good and outstanding, depending on the appellation and producer. When we think about comparing the 2015 vintage to other memorable vintages, we believe that it falls somewhere between the power of 2005 and the accessibility of the 2009, but with lower alcohol levels, which makes it feel fresher and perhaps, even more pure.

2. The 2015 vintage is proving to be an especially good year for Right Bank producers. While many excellent wines were produced on the Left Bank, the overall consistency of quality in St. Emilion and Pomerol cannot be ignored and may ultimately end up rivaling the extraordinary 2005 vintage. Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Clinet, La Conseillante, Larcis Ducasse, Troplong Mondot and  La Tertre Roteboeuf are just some of the highlights of the outstanding wines we were fortunate enough to taste. 

3. On the Left Bank, the best

Burgundy and all of its different appellations can be a little daunting at times. I mean within Burgundy itself, it has 100 different appellations or AOCs (Appellations d’Origine Controlee) that can be broken down into four levels which includes, Regional, Village, Premier Cru and Grand Cru. So when I had the opportunity to try the 2011 Jean Marc Pillot Chassagne Montrachet Les Vergers Premier Cru White Burgundy, I wanted to get to know more about the area that the wine comes from.

Of the 100 different AOCs that a wine from Burgundy can be classified from, there are 23 Regional appellations, which means that grapes can come from a large stretch of land within Burgundy, such as wine being called Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune. Then there are 44 Village appellations, which are localized even further to a smaller area, such as Chassagne-Montrachet. Within these Village appellations,

The property on which Castello dei Rampolla exists has been owned by the di Napoli family since 1739, but no vineyards were planted there until visionary Alceo di Napoli Rampolla inherited the farmland in 1965. By 1975, the first bottles of Chianti Classico were produced, but Alceo, who was always striving to create a greater wine, decided to plant Cabernet Sauvignon to blend with the Sangiovese. With the help of friend and famed oenologist, Giacomo Tachis, the concept for one of the first “Super Tuscans” was born and Sammarco would eventually release with the 1980 vintage.

In 1991, Alceo unexpectedly passed away, and in 1994 his second son Luca returned to the estate to help his sister Maurizia manage the property. To further his father’s vision, Luca immediately began implementing biodynamic practices. In his 2015 article covering three decades of Sammarco, Antonio Galloni noted: “there is a clear dividing line at 1994, when the wines acquire more density,

Oreno, named after the river that runs through the property, is the flagship of Tenuta Sette Ponti. Wine Spectator has more than once placed Oreno among the best wines of the annual Top 100 Wines, right along with The Wine Advocate. An international-styled blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, it delivers incredible quality coupled with great value. You’d be hard pressed to find this level of quality at this price point elsewhere in the world, namely Bordeaux. 

On this particular occasion, Sandy and I were “kid free” for the evening so we took advantage of our new-found freedom and opened a bottle of the 97-point 2013 Sette Ponti Oreno. We enjoyed a casual, and quiet, evening at home making our favorite things. Caesar salad to start with my homemade dressing and croustade, marinated pork loin and some fingerling potatoes. Nothing all that extravagant, but a perfect complement

Finally! The weather is starting to warm which means it’s time to begin stocking your cellar with this season’s latest white Burgundy releases.  There’s nothing more refreshing than a glass of chilled Chablis on a warm spring day.  In preparation for my upcoming spring gatherings, I thought it would be fun to taste one of Patrick Piuze’s 2014 Chablis just to see what I have in store for myself and my guests.

The up-and-coming Patrick Piuze is certainly making a splash in Burgundy.  Unfortunately, so far there has only been a very small production of each vintage, but they are all fantastic and worth every cent. The good news though, you don’t have to spend much to find a quality bottle of Chablis when it comes to Piuze! His selection is under priced, but they won’t stay that way for long.

If you’re interested in trying the newest vintage of Chablis from Piuze, I would absolutely suggest the 94

Tenimenti Luigi d'Alessandro was founded in 1967, a time in Cortona that was not widely known for great wine. What was produced there largely went to inexpensive blends. That may have been where the story ended had it not been for a professor at the University of Milan, Attilo Scienza, who decided to test the potential of the soils for vine growing. Four years of studying brought him to the conclusion that Rhone varietals were the best match, and ten acres of Syrah were planted. Formal recognition followed in 1999 when the area achieved D. O. C.

This, too, could have been the end of the saga were it not for the entrance of Luca Currado of Vietti and Christine Vernay, a well known winemaker from Rhone. They put their heads together to bring this varietal to new heights at Tenimenti d'Alessandro. 2011 was a milestone in their partnership when the 2007 Il Bosco achieved the Gold Medal at the Syrah

Not many people can trace their ancestry back to the 1500s, let alone a wine producer whose family started producing wine that people nowadays drink and see as some of the best wines in the world. That being said, I recently tasted the 2010 Costanti Brunello di Montalcino, which is one of the original producers of Brunello and even was one of the original founders to call Montalcino wines by the term “Brunello.” 2010 was an epic vintage for Brunello di Montalcino and received rave reviews from wine critics.

In 1555, the Costanti family was given land in what is now Montalcino. It wasn’t until Tito Costanti in 1870, who was a lawyer at the time, presented his wines produced in 1865 and 1869 at a wine Exhibition of the Province of Siena and labeled them as Brunello that it became what the family was known for. In 1983, Andrea Costanti took over the property from his family and

Wine: 2010 Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Most would question out of curiosity, what makes a wine, great? Is it the price that adds the value, or the palate of the critic that foresees the future of the bottle? Is it the producer, whom is hungry and passionate about fine elixirs, that portrays his character delineated through grape—or—maybe it is both the producer and a keen precision of perfect growing weather?

“…Deeply colored, it boasts masculine, meaty aromas and flavors of smoked herbs, pepper, licorice, lavender, crushed rock and blackberries to go with a full-bodied, concentrated and rich style on the palate. There’s ample tannin here, yet they’re sweet and beautifully integrated.” – eRobertParker.com

I am going to have to say, not only is it all of the above, but ever more so, my rhetorical questions become trivial to the pedigree in